1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric connector with a cable, and more particularly to an electric connector for securing a cable to a housing and to an electric connector whose housing is of a split type.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an electric connector with a cable of this type, such as the one shown in FIG. 4 is known. The electric connector shown in the drawing comprises the following: a soft resilient sleeve 51 which is easily deformable and is exteriorly fitted over an end of an outer jacket of a cable with contacts (not shown); a contact holder 52 for accommodating and holding the contacts of the cable with contacts and adapted to be inserted into a mating connector in an opening of a housing; a coupling metal fitting 53 for coupling together the resilient sleeve 51 and the contact holder 52; and a housing 54.
An annular groove is formed in a outer peripheral surface of each of the resilient sleeve 51 and the contact holder 52. Meanwhile, the coupling metal fitting 53 has finger-like retainers 53A, 53C which are made to undergo elastic deformation in an annular shape with respect to these annular grooves to retain the resilient sleeve 51 and the contact holder 52, as well as a coupling portion 53B for coupling the proximal portion of the retainers 53A, 53C. The coupling portion 53B is provided with a threaded hole for a fixing screw 55, and is fixed by means of the housing 54 and the screw 55.
When such a conventional electric connector with a cable is used, after the resilient sleeve 51 is first exteriorly fitted over an outer-jacket portion of the cable with contacts, each contact is fitted in the contact holder. Subsequently, after the retainers 53A, 53C of the coupling metal fitting 53 are held in the respective grooves in the resilient sleeve 51 and the contact holder 52, the retainers 53A, 53C are crimped into an annular shape. Since the resilient sleeve 51 is soft, as the retainer 53A is crimped, the cable in the resilient sleeve is also securely tightened. Thus, the cable is secured to the contact holder 52 via the coupling metal fitting 53. Furthermore, after the housing 54 is exteriorly fitted over the assembly, the coupling metal fitting 53 and the housing 54 are secured by means of the screw 55. As a result, the cable is also secured to the housing, so that even if the cable is pulled in the longitudinal direction thereof, the cable is prevented from being drawn out easily, and an undesirable external force is prevented from being imparted to connecting portions of the cable with respect to its contacts.
With the above-described conventional electric connector of the type in which the cable is fixed, its structure becomes large-scaled because the retainers are provided at opposite ends of the coupling metal fitting, and because it is necessary to provide the coupling portion for connecting them and having the threaded hole for fixing. In particular, its dimension in the longitudinal direction of the cable becomes large. This is undesirable for the electric connectors which are required to be compact in size. Such being the case, however, if the coupling metal fitting is made excessively small, the screw becomes small and the strength becomes insufficient, so that the function of the coupling metal fitting becomes insufficient. Furthermore, since the number of component parts used increases, resulting in higher manufacturing costs and making it impossible to improve the operating efficiency.
In addition, as for the electric connector, there are cases where the cable, which is connected to the connectors embedded in the housing, needs to be reconnected because of an erroneous connection, short-circuiting, or disconnection.
To meet this requirement, an electric connector is known in which the housing is made capable of being disassembled at a plane including the axis of the cable. This known electric connector is arranged such that two-split housing portions permitting disassembly are connected together by means of a screw to form a housing. Another electric connector of this type is arranged such that a resilient sleeve is exteriorly fitted over the housing.
With the above-described known electric connectors, however, although the cable after being once connected can be disassembled and reconnected, the disassembly of the housing and connection are quite troublesome. Furthermore, since a space for the threaded hole and an extra, necessary minimum wall thickness for securing the strength of the threaded hole portion are required, the housing becomes disadvantageously large-sized. In the case of a small connector, in particular, the screw itself becomes small in diameter and becomes quite inconvenient to handle, and it is difficult to secure the aforementioned space for the threaded hole and the wall thickness of the surrounding portion.